Case Study: SSAB achieves rapid global spend visibility and shifts to higher-value procurement with SAP Ariba

Increased Focus on Higher Value-Add Activities as a Result of Global E-Procurement Journey

SSAB, a leading high-strength steel producer with about 9,000 employees across 45 countries, lacked a common purchasing system and operated on multiple ERPs, leaving little to no visibility into supplier spend, manual sourcing and contract processes, and inconsistent contract compliance. These fragmented, time-consuming processes made it difficult to manage spend, gather data, and control contracts at a global level.

By rolling out cloud-based Ariba solutions—covering sourcing, contract management, spend visibility and procure-to-pay—and integrating with all ERPs, SSAB established a single, user-friendly global procurement platform supported by regular implementation governance. The change cut spend-data collection from 3–4 weeks to 15–30 minutes, enabled true global reporting and contract traceability, reduced supply and financial risk, improved internal and supplier collaboration, unlocked greater savings potential, and freed procurement to focus on higher value-add activities.

SSAB